This video came up on my feed yesterday. Had never heard of this technique, don't really know how valid it might be or if this is pretty much taboo. Either way, it was a good way to spend my new years resolution time (aka getting sweaty on a treadmill!)
https://youtu.be/g1iTtqgnOeQ
We hunted corn fields a lot in the 60s and early 70s. That is when I met Toad Smith. We worked fields in a pattern. It was quite fun, but the deer I shot doing it were laying down. I had do really give careful consideration to arrow placement, or wait for them to stand up. It is more difficult these days. The corn is mostly a lower height and the rows are closer together. On a couple of our public spots a very very tall type of corn was planted that had small roundish ears that were at times 6 feet high. With that corn variety it was possible to hunt inside of the field.
love standing corn
There is some great tips in one of the Wensels DVD's. I believe it's Bowhunting October Whitetails. Tells you everything you will need to know.
Corn around here is super tall and you can no longer get down the rows at least w/o a lot of difficulty due to the rows being really close together..But if you can get in one pretty fun to hunt on a really windy day.
If you have a corn field that is surrounded by good woods or other deer cover that has a grass patch or line of weeds running through it, grab a stool and go for it. One grassy strip in the middle of one field yielded 6 deer for us in two different years.
I have a buddy in pa that used to have his own bow shop..On a really windy day he killed 3 deer while stalking thru standing corn..He said it was the funnest day he's ever had with a bow..He kinda did what the wensel October video shows... Easing through he'd poke his head into next be row look left then right..If clear he'd move his body into the next row....If the was a deer laying in that row he'd draw his bow ,then squeeze between the stalks a shoot...
I have a buddy in pa that used to have his own bow shop..On a really windy day he killed 3 deer while stalking thru standing corn..He said it was the funnest day he's ever had with a bow..He kinda did what the wensel October video shows... Easing through he'd poke his head into next be row look left then right..If clear he'd move his body into the next row....If the was a deer laying in that row he'd draw his bow ,then squeeze between the stalks a shoot...
It's been a bunch of years since I've had private farms to hunt but the issue I see is that I've never hunted a farm where the farmer wanting you in standing crops. I think it was always pretty much a stipulation that you stay out of standing crops.
It good to see the video though because this is something that I haven't thought about in many years. It dawns on me that it's a tactic that might work real well on the local state WMA where they plant crop fields and the hunting pressure is heavy.
At those properties I've hunted some great groves of white oaks that were dropping lots of nuts and being hit heavy by deer but the deer were NEVER there during day light.
Maybe I'll try this next year on the WMA.
This technique worked well and was a lot of fun many year ago.
Not much anymore. I live next to crop land and the methods have changed considerably.
The corn is now planted in rows that are only 26 to 30 inches apart, not the old 36, and the corn is no longer hilled, that is planted in hills some distance apart.
They are now drilled in the row, often only 3 or 4 inches apart. Walking through or across corn rows today is a miserable undertaking.
Yeah Bruce, and today not only are the rows spaced closer together, we are getting wider ourselves. :biglaugh:
Well, I saw no point in mentioning that. LOL
There are several fields around me that have Waterways in them. These locations really seem to funnel deer well. It is a fun way to hunt. I much prefer the ground over a tree and have taken a couple dozen from the ground. I seem to find myself in a tree more often than not these days. Deer around my area have adapted and become super smart.
Interesting reading and viewing. Never hunted corn in the old days where the rows were "hilled" and spaced three feet apart. One of my club's leases does have some corn and I have walked through them, or attempted to. I doubt if I'd even be able to draw much less shoot unimpeded. The only possible time would be on one of those "very windy" days.